Dialectical information architecture

Abstract

A dialectical information architecture is disclosed comprising an organic hierarchy information structure within which a plurality of information and data are arrayed according to categories and wherein subcategory relationships among the categories are generated by determining information or data associated among two or more categories. A computer system configured with such an architecture provides a user interface allowing a user to select any category and view information or data independently of that the selected category's relationship with any other category.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer system comprising:
 an organic hierarchy data structure stored within a computer-readable storage medium configured with program logic for generating said organic hierarchy data structure, said data structure comprising:
 a plurality of information atoms, each of said atoms being at least one of a text-based atom, an image-based atom, an audio-based atom, and a video-based atom; and 
 a plurality of information categories wherein a portion of said information atoms of said plurality of information atoms are associated with at least one information category, and wherein some of said information categories are subcategories; 
 wherein said each said information category may be accessed independently of relationships with other information categories within said plurality of information categories. 
   
     
     
         2 . The computer system of  claim 1 , wherein said organic hierarchy data structure further comprises:
 a plurality of levels, said plurality of levels comprising:
 a first level, said first level comprising a single node representing a union of all information categories within said plurality of information categories; 
 a plurality of sublevels, each said sublevel comprising a plurality of nodes, each said node within a sublevel representing an information subcategory of a node in a preceding sublevel; and 
 a last level comprising a single last node, said last node representing the intersection of all information categories within said plurality of information categories. 
   
     
     
         3 . The computer system of  claim 2 , wherein each information atom of said plurality of information atoms is associated with a membership value, said membership value representing a degree of association an information atom has with an information category. 
     
     
         4 . The computer system of  claim 1 , further comprising a user interface configured to display said plurality of information categories and to allow a user to selectively view each said information category independently of relationships with other said information categories. 
     
     
         5 . The computer system of  claim 4 , wherein said user interface is further configured to display only visible categories and visible atoms for each information category selected by said user. 
     
     
         6 . The computer system of  claim 5 , wherein said organic hierarchy data structure further comprises:
 a plurality of levels, said plurality of levels comprising:
 a first level, said first level comprising a single node representing a union of all information categories within said plurality of information categories; 
 a plurality of sublevels, each said sublevel comprising a plurality of nodes, each said node within a sublevel representing an information subcategory of a node in a preceding sublevel; and 
   a last level comprising a single last node, said last node representing the intersection of all information categories within said plurality of information categories.   
     
     
         7 . The computer system of  claim 6 , wherein each information atom of said plurality of information atoms comprises a membership value, said membership value representing a degree of association an information atom has with an information category. 
     
     
         8 . The computer system of  claim 7 , wherein said user interface is further configured to render an indication of the degree of association an information atom has with a selected information category based upon said membership value of said information atom. 
     
     
         9 . The computer system of  claim 8 , wherein said user interface is further configured to display only visible categories and visible atoms for each information category selected by said user. 
     
     
         10 . A process for providing information to a computer user comprising the steps of:
 obtaining a plurality of information atoms, each of said information atoms being one of text, video, imagery, audio, and data;   associating one or more of said plurality of information atoms with one or more information categories;   generating an organic hierarchy information architecture comprising said information categories and information subcategories derived from said information categories; and   providing a user interface configured to allow said user to view any of said information categories and said information subcategories independent of the relationships between an information category or subcategory.   
     
     
         11 . The process of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 displaying via said user interface only visible information categories and visible information atoms for each said information category or information subcategory viewed by said user.   
     
     
         12 . The process of  claim 11 , wherein said step of generating said organic hierarchy comprises the steps of:
 generating a plurality of nodes, said nodes representing one of said information categories and said information subcategories;   defining subcategory relationships for each said node within said plurality of nodes; and   defining visible and hidden subcategory relationships for each said node within said plurality of nodes.   
     
     
         13 . The process of  claim 12 , further comprising the step of:
 defining visible information atoms.   
     
     
         14 . The process of  claim 13 , wherein the step of generating a plurality of nodes comprises the steps of:
 defining a first node representing the union of all information categories;   defining nodes representing each information category within said plurality of information categories; and   recursively defining nodes representing the intersection of information categories within said plurality of information categories.   
     
     
         15 . The process of  claim 10 , further comprising the step of:
 assigning a membership value to each information atom, said membership value representing a degree to which an information atom is associated with an information category and an information subcategory.   
     
     
         16 . The process of  claim 15 , further comprising the step of:
 displaying an indication of the membership value of an information atom to said user.   
     
     
         17 . The process of  claim 16 , wherein said step of generating said organic hierarchy comprises the steps of:
 generating a plurality of nodes, said nodes representing one of said information categories and said information subcategories; and   defining subcategory relationships for each said node within said plurality of nodes.   
     
     
         18 . The process of  claim 17 , wherein said step of generating said organic hierarchy further comprises the step of:
 defining visible and hidden subcategory relationships for each said node within said plurality of nodes.   
     
     
         19 . An information architecture comprising:
 a structure plane, said structure plane comprising a set of logical relationships among information atoms;   a flow plane, said flow plane comprising a rendering of information categories and said information atoms such that a user may select any information category or atom independently of relationships with other information categories; and   a dialectic plane, said dialectic plane comprising a first user-selected information category, and at least one intersecting information category.   
     
     
         20 . The information architecture of  claim 19 , wherein said information atoms are at least one of qualitative and quantitative information.